Advisian undertook a water resources assessment to assign a value to the Umm er Radhuma aquifer water. The study has become an award-winning gold standard approach for water resource appraisal in Oman.
The Situation
Water security is a key strategic challenge for Oman and The Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). Advisian was commissioned by PDO to undertake a water resources assessment to assign a value to the Umm er Radhuma aquifer water and use this to understand comparative costs and benefits against re-using produced water and other water resource alternatives.
Our Approach
Advisian’s hydrogeologists developed a detailed characterisation of the aquifer and its inter-dependencies with economic and ecosystem services, and used this to determine total economic value of the water comprising the following value components:
- Full supply cost
- Opportunity cost
- Economic externalities
- Environmental externalities
This was monetised into one US$ per cubic metre unit value along with a breakdown of cost attributes for the components above.
Results
If raw water is treated as if it has zero or an arbitrary value then this leads to bias and inaccurate decision-making and the potential to waste resource and value by inefficient use of water. The monetised value of this water has enabled better decision-making and can improve the efficient use of water.
The study has become an award-winning gold standard approach for water resource appraisal in Oman.